Companies must combat urge to ‘unnovate’

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Household names have vanished because they failed to innovate, says Olaf SwanteeDavid Parry/PA

Opinion: Olaf Swantee

Last updated at 10:22PM, October 30 2013

Over the past few years I’ve noticed a worrying trend within businesses across
pretty much every industry.

It all centres on the refusal to innovate ... I call it “unnovation”.

It concerns me, and should concern them, too. Ultimately, it could lead to
disastrous consequences for their businesses, their staff and their future.

Some people think of unnovation as the moment when a business believes it’s
innovating when in fact it is only taking small steps towards change. I
think of it a little differently. If unnovation ever made it into the Oxford
English Dictionary, I believe the description would be